


Laughter Lines

by lightthornn



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Wicked Powers Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Kit and Ty Reunion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27607372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightthornn/pseuds/lightthornn
Summary: In which Kit and Ty meet after three years.
Relationships: Tiberius Blackthorn/Kit Rook
Comments: 12
Kudos: 96





	Laughter Lines

_I'll see you in the future when we're older_

_And we are full of stories to be told_

_Cross my heart, and hope to die_

_I'll see you with your laughter lines._

* * *

Ty put a hand on the dusty wall of the library, peering around the corner. The room was filled with shelves upon shelves of old novels, filled with stories to be told, but not having been opened in years. 

The building was typically abandoned. Livvy had seen some people walking in one day, and she had said they seemed suspicious. Ty, knowing of the vampires being found dead, went right away to look into it. He had not been assigned to go there by the Scholamance, and he probably shouldn't be there, but Ty liked solving mysteries, even if it had been years since he had called himself Sherlock Holmes. 

"I don't think anyone is here right now," Livvy said, floating by his side like she always did. 

"We would know if anyone was," Ty said, turning the corner and continuing to walk. 

Nobody had been able to figure out how or why the vampires were dying, only that their bodies were being left in broad daylight as if to spite them. They only got to lay in the sun in death. Second death, whatever.

"I said there were only some people I hadn't seen before. I don't know if it could help," Livvy said. When she had told Ty what she had seen, she didn't expect him to actually look into it. She had been trying to convince him not to do it since he had first mentioned it. 

"I wanted to come," Ty said. He jumped when he hit his foot on the bottom of a shelf. He had been tense ever since arriving. 

The library was in Devon; a place Ty had been trying to avoid for the past three years. He knew who lived there, and it was taking everything in him to not think about it, to not think about _him_. 

"Just be careful, please," Livvy said, drifting a few feet above him.

Ever since Livvy had been a ghost, Ty had never had to tell her to be careful. He missed it more than he would've thought. If his plans by the lake had worked, then maybe she would be next to him with a smile (she still was, but it never looked as alive as it had in life), and he would have to remind her to be careful too. She would grin and pull out her weapon, because a Shadowhunter could never be too careful. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket, but he didn't check it. It was probably Anush, asking where he was. Ty had skipped his classes that day and had felt nervous about it at first, but being back to solving mysteries calmed him down. Still, he had his headphones up as he walked, looking for anything that could help solve the mysteries. For clues to examine. 

Livvy had gone, probably to look for something else. Ty was okay with that. He glanced down at the heron necklace that he always wore, despite it bringing up memories of tears and words he never wanted to hear from someone who wasn't supposed to say stuff like that. He hadn't told anyone exactly what happened that night- hadn't even figured it out himself. Ty didn't like thinking about that night, or the weeks that followed.

"Someone else came in. A Shadowhunter," Livvy whispered, suddenly next to him again. 

Ty looked behind him, speeding up. He didn't hear anyone. Some Shadowhunters had perfected the art of being sneaky, or maybe this one was wearing a Soundless rune. 

"It'll be fine," Ty said. A Shadowhunter wouldn't hurt him, unless it was one of the ones from Idris, who the rest of the world had heard nothing of ever since Livvy had spied on them the one time. She had tried to do it again, but had never heard anything of any use. But he did pull his headphones down, to be safe. 

Before he could even think, he was shoved against the closest bookshelf and there was something sharp pressed up against his throat. The figure in front of him was dressed in all black, true Shadowhunter fashion. Ty didn't like looking right at people, but when he caught a glimpse of that hair, he froze and let him meet those blue eyes that he had seen in his dreams. 

Kit was older. Ty realized with a start that he was taller than Kit now, unlike three years ago when they had been similar in height. His hair had been cut, but it still curled like it always had. His jaw and cheekbones were more defined, more depth to his face. His nose and lips fit his face better than they had when he was fifteen. Not that Kit had been ugly at fifteen.

But now- 

Now he was beautiful. 

Just seeing him tied his stomach into a knot and his heart sped up. Just like it had three years ago. 

"Ty?" Kit whispered. His voice was deeper. 

The knife fell from Ty's throat and Ty pushed past Kit, standing back in the middle of the aisle. 

"When we met, I held a knife to your throat," Ty said. 

"You did," Kit looked a little pale. "How- how have you been?" 

"I've been good. The Scholomance is good. I have a schedule. The people there are nice," Ty noticed that Livvy was gone. He didn't know where she had gone. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"Livvy saw people coming in here. I thought it might have something to do with the vampires ending up dead," Ty didn't want to talk about why he was there. 

He wanted to ask why Kit was there, why he had left without even saying goodbye. Kit's last words to him rang in his head, ones that Ty tried to pretend never existed. 

_I wish I'd never known you._

And Ty had tried to understand that, but even Julian was confused why Kit had left without saying goodbye. He had said Ty and Kit had always seemed so close. 

_I love you, Ty. I love you._

Kit had said that in a moment of panic, Ty had decided long ago. Just to try and get him to stop from reviving Livvy. Ty had been trying to figure out why the thought of Kit not meaning it sounded devastating to him.

"Me too," Kit said. "Jem is outside. Do you- do you need somewhere to stay? It's getting late. I don't think you should be going back this late. But if you- don't want to, then that's okay," 

"Would Jem and Tessa be okay with me staying?" Ty asked, Julian reminding him to always make sure people were okay with him coming over in his mind. 

"I'm sure they would," Kit's voice sounded odd. Ty couldn't put his finger on it. "There's not going to be anything here in the day anyway," 

* * *

_Changes on our hands and on our faces_

_Memories mapped out by the lines we'll trace._

* * *

Jem had gladly said that Ty was more than welcome to stay as long as he needed to. 

Their house was huge. Ty had been expecting something much smaller- not a castle in front of him. But inside, it looked like a home. Like somewhere Julian would've been, leaving the sense of love everywhere he went. 

Ty looked at some of the pictures in the hallways. There were some of people he had never known in black and white, and then there were the more recent ones, Kit in some of them with a young girl who Ty knew was named Mina. 

Kit had vanished up to his room as soon as they had got there, and Jem had went to find Tessa and Mina. Ty found himself in the library, dialing Julian's phone number. 

"Hey Ty!" He said on the other line, picking up almost immediately. 

Ty got right to the point. "I snuck out to look at something. I'm at Tessa and Jem's, they said it's okay. Kit is here," 

Julian was silent for a long moment, enough for Ty to look to make sure he hadn't hung up. Eventually, he did speak. "Have you talked to him at all?" 

"Not much. He asked how I was. He went to his room when we got back," 

"I don't know why Kit left-" 

Ty interrupted him. "He said something. Before he left. Two things, actually. I don't know what they mean. I don't know if he meant them," 

"What did he say?" Julian asked tentatively.

"Um," Ty said. He hadn't even told Livvy about what was said that night on the lake. But Julian always gave good advice. Maybe he would know. "I don't know if he meant it, and I haven't told anyone else. Don't tell anyone," 

"I won't, Ty," 

"He said: I love you, Ty. I love you." 

He heard Julian take in a breath. "What did you say?" 

"I didn't say anything. I thought- I was shocked, I didn't know what to say," 

Even Ty could tell that Julian sounded sad. "I don't know what Kit meant when he did say that, but that could be why he left. He told you that he loved you. Emma actually brought it up one day a while ago. She asked if I thought Kit ever had a crush on you, and I didn't think much of it. He told you that he loved you, and maybe it was just friendship. But he might have meant it in the way that I love Emma," 

"Oh," Was all that Ty could say. 

"How did you feel about Kit then? How did you feel when he walked into a room?" 

Ty furrowed his brows together, looking at his feet. "Sometimes I would feel more relaxed. But then my heart would speed up sometimes. Sometimes it feels like there's butterflies in my stomach, I think," 

"Go tell him that," Julian said. 

"But-" 

"Tell him. He's the one that needs to hear it, not me," Julian said. 

"What if he doesn't love me anymore, or he didn't mean it?" A while ago, Ty had wondered if maybe he did like Kit. He listened to other people talk about the people that they liked, and he knew he felt the same way about Kit. He had always ignored it. 

"I've gone with Emma to visit him a few times. Well, to visit Jem. But Kit was there. He asked about you everytime, but told us not to mention it to you. Just tell him," 

"Okay," 

"I love you, Ty," 

"Me too. Bye," Ty put his phone in his pocket and left the library, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

* * *

_Ashen faces in cold breeze_

_All the memories you will leave_

* * *

Ty knocked on Kit's door, hoping that he would even open the door. He was about to leave when the door opened, and Kit was standing there. His eyes looked red, and he was wearing sweatpants and a white T-shirt. Kit had gotten more muscular over the time they had spent apart. It made him want to stop and stare. He didn't. 

"Hi," Ty said. 

"Hey," Kit said. Ty looked into his eyes. Even three years ago, Kit had been one of the few people Ty would let himself do it with. "Do you want to come in?"

Ty nodded, and Kit stepped aside, letting Ty in. Kit's room was exactly what Ty would imagine his room to be like. Some clothes on the floor, a laptop on the desk. Pictures of him, Jem, Tessa, and Mina. 

"Did you mean what you said before you left?" Ty asked, turning to look at him. "When you said you wished you'd never known me?"

"God, Ty," Kit said, sitting down on the edge of his bed and putting his hands on his knees. "No, I never meant that. I regret saying it every day,"

"Then why did you say it?" Ty asked, fearing the answer, but needing to know it at the same time. 

"Because I was hurt," Kit said with a small shrug. "I- I was confused, and I was scared. We hadn't been able to bring Livvy back, and it hurt you. I tried to stop you, but you still did it. And then I said that I loved you and you didn't say anything. I couldn't bear to still stay there, or even to say goodbye to you, because it hurt so much,"

Ty was silent, and it looked like Kit was about to get up to leave, before Ty stopped him. "I didn't think you meant it," 

"You thought I lied to you?" 

"You'd lied to other people before," 

Kit shook his head. "I was never able to lie to you, Ty," There was his name again. Ty liked the way it sounded coming from Kit. 

"So I didn't say anything. And I didn't know... I didn't know how I felt about you," 

"How you felt about me?" He met Ty's eyes, and Ty wanted to look away, but he didn't. 

"I didn't know why I got nervous when you walked into the room, even though I was relaxed at the same time. I'm not good with feelings or words. I don't-," Ty broke off, shaking his head, tearing a hand through his hair. He didn't know how to say the words that he wanted to say. 

Kit was patient, like he always was, even though Kit saw him tapping his foot. Kit had done that sometimes in LA, when he was nervous. Ty had never thought much of it. 

"I think I love you too," 

And when Kit looked up at him, his eyes were brighter than Ty had ever seen them.


End file.
